We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health. It’s about how we think, feel and act. Sometimes we feel well, and sometimes we don’t. When our mental health is good, we feel motivated and able to take on challenges and new experiences. But when our mental health is not so good, we can find it much harder to cope.

1 in 6 children between the ages of 5 and 16 years are likely to have a mental health problem but recognising the signs that a child may be struggling with their mental health can be really hard.

These figures are from before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. During, and since, isolation from school, family and friends, services have seen a huge increase in children attending with poor mental health.

The Children and Young People's Emergency Department at Teesside hospital strives to provide holistic and family-centred care. We are working in partnership with other trusts and services to improve the mental health care we provide and are taking steps (10 million of them!) to provide better outcomes for our patients.

Staff on the department have challenged themselves to walk 10 million steps in May to raise money and awareness of children's mental health and ways we can help support this. Any money raised will be used in the unit to improve the mental health care and support we give. We want to provide a safe space for our children, to offer comfort and support for them and their families, to be able to signpost to other services and agencies who can help, to introduce comfort packs to make their stay a positive experience and be the first step towards better mental health